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Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the teamâs stronger pace in Miami was helped by work during the five-week break to give Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar a more consistent car they could push with confidence, alongside its usual development upgrades. Mekies said: "After Suzuka on Sunday night, we said, look, regardless of our performance deficit overall in terms of development, compared to where we were late last year, regardless of that, we do not give, at the moment, a consistent car to our drivers, a car they can push with confidence, lap to lap, corner to corner. That was most of the work that has been done in these five weeks' break, in addition to the normal development."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Kimi Antonelliâs Miami Grand Prix victory was the Italianâs best race so far and reminded him of his junior-category success, with a âfaultlessâ performance. Wolff said: "I know track limits are on the mistakes. It's easier to calm someone down that is wild, because you won't be able to accelerate a donkey. So for me, that was his best race so far, and it reminds me of his karting days or Formula 4. There were no mistakes."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin are right to hold off on bringing small upgrades during their struggling 2026 campaign because marginal gains would not change their position until the team can unlock a much bigger step with its Honda-powered AMR26. Alonso said: "I'm at peace because I understand the situation. The team explained to me that if we bring one or two tenths every race, it doesn't change our position, we are P20 or P19 and the next car is one second in front. So, even if we bring two tenths every race, it doesn't change our position and it's a huge stress in the system, in the budget cap and things like that. Until we don't have one second and a half or two second improvement, it's better not to press the button in production because we waste money."
F1 TV presenter James Hinchcliffe says Mercedes driver George Russell could end team-mate Kimi Antonelliâs winning streak at the Canadian Grand Prix because Russell has been âvery competitiveâ at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Hinchcliffe said: "Nothing lasts forever in Formula 1, right? And we're going to a track next that we know George Russell is very competitive at. He won there last year. It'll be interesting to see how he handles it if George goes there and is able to get the momentum back on his side. How does he handle that wave ebbing and flowing?"
Colton Herta says he has a âweirdâ cockpit habit of pushing the pedals with his toes rather than with his heel planted, which is why he does not like using a heel rest as he prepares for his Cadillac Formula 1 debut in Barcelona FP1. Herta said: "The only thing that's weird about me is I don't like to run a heel rest, and that's because when I push the pedal, instead of going on like this, I actually push with my toes, and so my heel comes up. And so if I run a heel rest, then I can't get forward with my heel. It kind of stops it."
2025 F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin says racing in Formula 1 is now a goal rather than a dream after testing a Mercedes F1 car. Pin said: "But from when I was nine until a few years ago, it was a dream - Formula 1. And now it's a goal. It's a bit different. And now I have proved to myself that I can be fast in a Formula 1 car, I don't know what to say to my nine-year-old Doriane, but I think that it's important to follow what is inside your heart, and your gut."
Guenther Steiner says Formula 1 should introduce a time limit for post-race penalties after stewards at the Miami Grand Prix took about two and a half hours after the chequered flag to begin issuing verdicts. Steiner said: "The stewards because I was sitting in the airplane already going back home when I heard that there was still penalties going around. So I'm just thinking, we need to decide it after the race, but I think there needs to be a time limit. If you don't know, guess what? Don't give a penalty."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes is open to a future return of V8 engines in Formula 1 as long as it keeps a meaningful level of electrification, with the Mercedes team principal setting out a hybrid âmega-engineâ idea. Wolff said: "From a Mercedes standpoint, we are open to new engine regulations. We love V8s, that has only great memories, and from our perspective, it is a pure Mercedes engine. It revs high [but] then how do we give it enough energy from the battery side to not lose a connection to the real world? Because if we swing 100% to combustion, we might end up looking a bit ridiculous in 2031, or 2030. So we need to consider that and make it a mega-engine. Maybe we can extract 800 horsepower from the ICE and put 400 on top of it, or more, in terms of electric energy."
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies says the company would welcome Formula 1 switching from turbo hybrids back to normally-aspirated V8 or V10 engines for the next engine cycle, after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the change could happen in 2030 or 2031 with battery systems in place. Mekies said: "As Red Bull Powertrains, we are pretty cool with it. So we are quite excited to have another challenge, and we are probably a bit more flexible and independent. We don't have the background history, but we are quite excited about the new challenge."
Allan McNish says he has felt âmore nervousâ on the Audi pit wall than at any point in his driving career, after his first race weekend as the teamâs racing director in Miami. McNish said: "Well, I'm actually more nervous now than any time before!"
Lando Norris says Formula 1 cannot fully fix the current energy-management issues for drivers as long as the regulations are dominated by battery management, despite describing the Miami deployment tweaks as a âsmall step in the right directionâ. Norris said: "It's a small step in the right direction, but it's not to the level that Formula 1 should still be at yet. If you go flat out everywhere and you try pushing like you were in previous years, you still just get penalised for it. You still can't be flat out everywhere... So honestly, I don't really think you can fix that. You just have to get rid of the battery."
Carlos Sainz said Williams is ânot where we want to beâ, as he pointed to the end of the year as the target for the team to get back to its expected level after finishing ninth with Alex Albon 10th in Miami. Sainz said: "Still, I expect everyone at home to know that this is still not where we want to be, even if it feels to everyone that it's a bit of a relief because of getting two cars in the points. Even if it's on merit, it's definitely a good step, but we need to keep on pushing because it's not where we expected to be at the end of last year when we were hoping for 2026. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we can get back to where we want to be."
Williams boss James Vowles said delays on the teamâs 2026 FW47 build â and the car ending up overweight â came down to planning and software mistakes, with âhundredsâ of small issues adding up once Williams pushed a more aggressive programme. Vowles said: "We made a lot of changes a few years ago, putting in different ways of doing planning, different ways of structuring, different ways of working, and this was the first proper car build where all of those were brought into account. I think we have made some mistakes on some of that software that we've been using. And when we went through effectively a global review of all of that, it's tiny, small details, but hundreds of them starting to add up."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martinâs vibration issue from its Honda power unit is now âgoneâ after extensive testing at Hondaâs Sakura base and confirmation on track in Miami. Alonso said: "Gone, I would say gone. So it was a relief to see the vibrations that we measured in Sakura are confirmed on track [in Miami]."
Guenther Steiner says Aston Martin have âno excuseâ for their poor start to the 2026 season, with the team last in the constructorsâ standings on zero points after the first four rounds despite extensive investment and high-profile hires including Adrian Newey. Steiner said: "Nobody expected them to come to this season as ill-prepared as they came. Because they've got everything in place. They've got the people, they've got the facility, they've got the money. So, there is no excuse for them to be in this position."
Oscar Piastri said he was surprised by Red Bullâs pace at the Miami Grand Prix, after Max Verstappen was able to run near the front. Piastri said: "I would say yes. It wasn't a big surprise to see Mercedes and Ferraris â and especially Charles [Leclerc], who looked good [in Miami] â be competitive. I think to see Max up there was a bit of a surprise. So I think it just goes to show that, at the moment, things are very random, depending on who gets it right, who gets it wrong."
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes cannot afford complacency and must keep pushing its development after McLarenâs big step with its upgrade package at the Miami Grand Prix. Antonelli said: "I have really good confidence in the car. Obviously, we're in a great momentum. Hopefully, the package is going to work as we hope, but also McLaren is bringing another package, and the step they made [in Miami] was very big. So, we just have to keep pushing, keep raising that bar, because we saw this weekend how much it flipped compared to the first three races. So, we just got to stay on top of the game."
Franco Colapinto says he was surprised by how much Lionel Messi knew about Formula 1 after they met in Miami. Colapinto said: "It was something I've always dreamed of, and just having the opportunity of meeting him and having his time was a very special moment. He actually knew quite a lot. He surprised me, and he was asking questions, and I was very surprised, and asking about the roadshow."
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari must be âperfectâ in development to keep pace with rivals in 2026, after admitting other teamsâ upgrade packages in Miami were âprobably a little bit betterâ. Leclerc said: "The upgrade package is working. The thing is, others are pushing as well, and probably their upgrade package was a little bit better. We've got other things coming soon, and hopefully that will help us to get back a little bit in front. It's fine details, but with this generation of cars, especially on this first year, it will all be about the development. So we have to make sure we do everything perfect in terms of development."
Juan Pablo Montoya said Formula 1 races in the V8 era were âso boringâ as the prospect of V8s returning is discussed, after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: âItâs coming.â Montoya said: "People say, 'Oh, your time was so good', I say, 'Watch a race, it's so boring.' It was sometimes like a short test session."
Lando Norris says Mercedes have the edge over McLaren in high-speed corners, which he felt prevented him getting close enough to challenge Kimi Antonelli for victory at the Miami Grand Prix. Lando Norris said: "I don't believe we were as quick as the Mercedes in outright [pace]. I'm not taking anything away from Kimi, he did a very good job. There were just moments and certain places; like the high speed, where we know they're a bit better, and that never gave me an opportunity to get close enough on the back straight and start something."
Oscar Piastri says Mark Webber has âless and lessâ to do on the racing side of his career as Piastri gains experience in Formula 1, after Webber stepped back from a trackside role ahead of the 2026 season. Piastri said: "And I think just with experience, we're always learning every day, but now starting my fourth year, I have either the answers to a lot of those kinds of questions that I wouldn't have had in the first couple of years, or I know the questions to keep asking, which just comes with experience. There's naturally less and less for Mark to do on the racing side of things the more experienced I become."
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